Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 255 255. Win the Championship!The first championship in team history!Trade layout before the draft!Grizzly bear full of temptation!

On June 6, local time in the United States, the final matchup between the Grizzlies and the Magic officially started.

The Celtics' upset elimination made many outsiders acquiesce in the fact that this year's Grizzlies won the championship.

Even though the finals have not yet started, comparing the Magic and the Grizzlies together, no matter how you look at it, the Magic have no chance of winning in this round of the series.

Even famous mouth Kenny Smith carefully analyzed before the game, "Although Dwight is one of the best center players in the current league, his offensive skills are very stiff."

"Facing Marc Gasol with his excellent defensive ability, Dwight will definitely be limited in this series."

"And once Dwight is targeted, the entire Magic's offensive system will have a disastrous impact."

"There is no doubt that the Magic this season is a very good team, but facing the Grizzlies in the finals, the miracle that belongs to the Magic must be enough."

While the outside world is generally not optimistic about the Magic, the head star Howard is obviously angry at this kind of discrimination.

No one wants to be the team that is unanimously looked down upon by the outside world. Even though it is indeed very difficult for the Magic to win the Grizzlies, the general doubts from the outside world will only make Howard determined to play this game well.

"It's really a group of dogs who look down on people. I must let these guys see what real power is!" Before the game, Howard clenched his fists tightly, and even looked at Marc Gasol with eyes full of anger.

Although Marc Gasol hasn't said a word from head to toe, but the outside world has been rumored that Marc Gasol can prevent Howard from collapse.

For no reason, it aroused the anger of "Warcraft" Howard, which made Gasol feel unspeakable and somewhat depressed.

However, being unanimously optimistic about defending Howard to collapse, it also represents the outside world's recognition of Gasol's defensive ability from the side.

On this point, Gasol is still very useful in his heart.

Before the game, the entire FedEx Arena was still packed.

This season is also the first time for the Grizzlies to reach the finals stage, standing in the NBA's most pinnacle stadium, which makes Memphis fans excited and unwilling to miss any game about the team.

In this game, the Magic's starting lineup is still composed of Nelson, Bogans, Turkoglu, Lewis, and Howard.

Stan Van Gundy, as a basketball coach who adapts to all changes, it is really difficult for him to adjust the starting lineup when the team has not experienced any injuries.

As for the Grizzlies, some adjustments have been made at the small forward position, Lowry, Martin, Mike Miller, Paul Gasol, and Gasol Jr.

Turkoglu, known as the "Turkish magician", is not a player with excellent offensive ability.

And the entire Magic team, except for "Warcraft" Howard who sits in the penalty area, the other four players' defensive abilities are very average, and they are even relatively poor in various positions.

The only Bogans who is still active is still a veteran. In this round of the series, facing Kevin Martin, who has the best offensive skills in the league, Bogans is destined to experience an unforgettable nightmare.

The reason why Luke put Mike Miller in the starting lineup is to target Howard's characteristics of locking the penalty area.

Mike Miller's offensive ability is much better than "Wonder Boy" Outlaw. Facing the Orlando Magic, whose striker mainly focuses on shooting, Mike Miller will not become a defensive loophole on the field.

On the contrary, the Grizzlies' sharp outside offense will push the Magic to the edge of a cliff, so that Howard, who has excellent defensive ability, can only stand in the penalty area and stare blankly, enjoying the feeling of being helpless with a punch on the cotton.

Judging from the starting lineup alone, the Magic don't seem to be much worse than the Grizzlies. Four players scored in double figures in the starting lineup, which is already considered a first-class starting configuration in the league.

However, the starting five Tigers of the Grizzlies are better than the Magic in terms of personal strength and mutual cooperation.

After dismantling each set of matchups, except for Howard's point, it has the upper hand in an all-round way.

It is not easy for Pau Gasol to block Lewis' offense on the defensive end, but it is very simple to blow Lewis on the offensive end.

As long as the position is not pressed too deep and Howard helps defend from the side, Pau Gasol playing Lewis is completely like a father hitting a son, and it is even easier to score than Kevin Martin's matchup.

As soon as the game came up, Howard, who was in excellent physical fitness, helped the Magic get the ball first.

In the beginning, Howard stuck Marc Gasol in the low post and reached out to Turkoglu on the wing for the ball. It seemed that he wanted to use a personal attack to respond to those irritating doubts from the outside world.

After receiving the pass, Howard turned his back and observed the positions of the other Grizzlies players. Seeing that the Grizzlies had no intention of attacking him at all, Howard breathed a sigh of relief, and the anger in his heart was even greater. Straight up.

"Damn it! How dare you look down on me!"

With all his strength, he pushed Marc Gasol with his back a few times. Howard's fighting spirit in this game is even higher than when he faced "Shark" O'Neal in the Eastern Conference Finals.

As a result, Howard was astonished. Although he had exerted all his strength, Marc Gasol behind him remained motionless like a mountain. He only retreated slightly under his feet, but his body did not lose his position in the slightest.

Gasol's excellent lower-body strength caught Howard by surprise.

As we all know, Howard's strength lies in the strength of the upper body and the explosive power generated by the strength of the lower body. Once he encounters a defensive center with excellent lower body strength and taller than himself, Howard will always suffer in the matchup.

This is exactly why Howard at the peak will always be beaten in the matchup with Yao Ming. The fans jokingly say that Yao Ming is eating, sleeping and playing World of Warcraft in the NBA.

Marc Gasol's motionlessness made Howard hesitate, but when he thought of the scene where he was riding a tiger, Howard could only grit his teeth and continue to exert force, using his shoulder to slam Gasol's chest hard.

Howard's action with a trace of foul nature was not whistled by the sideline referee. Taking advantage of the gap that was finally squeezed out, Howard quickly turned around and completed the throw.

"boom!"

Although Howard squeezed out a little space for the shot, Gasol's terrifying lower body strength made Howard, who was constantly fighting physically, lose his sight. Pau Gasol took advantage of the trend.

"Mark's penalty zone defense is really suffocating. Since Shaq, Dwight is probably the most physically strong center in the active league."

"As a result, he didn't take any advantage in the physical confrontation with Mark. It seems that Dwight really has to doubt his life in this round of the series." Sitting in the audience, Li said with great interest.

Hearing Gentry's emotion, Luke, who was sitting aside, just smiled lightly and didn't say anything.

You know, Marc Gasol is the man who defended the "Emperor" Embiid to tears at the end of his career. Except for his slow lateral speed, Gasol has no weaknesses at all on the defensive end.

Marc Gasol will most likely suffer when he encounters a center player like Yao Ming who is skilled, powerful, and tall.

But like Howard, a center who completely uses his body to grab the basket, Marc Gasol is simply a nightmare.

In later generations, some fans called Marc Gasol a center identifier. Whoever dares to call himself the league's number one center must beat Marc Gasol in the matchup.

Otherwise, it can only be as infamous as Embiid, who is ridiculed by fans for a little strength and starts to want to go to the sky.

Seeing that he missed a low attack, Howard only felt his face flushed, and even the shouts of the fans around him were automatically filled by Howard as ridicule.

"Damn! Damn! How is this possible!"

Before Howard jumped out of his cranky thinking, Pau Gasol on the side easily crushed Lewis on the offensive end and made a layup.

Because he didn't concentrate on the game, and Lewis was too weak on the defensive end, he was easily crushed to the basket by Pau Gasol. Howard didn't even respond to the assist defense. I can only watch Pau Gasol take the lead.

Lewis' poor defensive ability made Howard a little dissatisfied, "You can't stand for a while, and I was hit by the opponent before I could react. How can a team win the championship with this kind of defense?"

As soon as he came up, he was targeted by Pau Gasol in singles. Lewis was very depressed. Hearing Howard complained to him, Lewis couldn't help complaining in a low voice, "If I want to be good on both offense and defense, how can it be possible?" To help you."

"Asshole!" Howard couldn't help but widen his eyes angrily.

For the next period of time, Howard's performance caused the Magic to encounter some troubles on the offensive end, and the one-star tactics could not be launched from the root.

It can only be left to Lewis, Turkoglu and others to look for opportunities on the outside and use Howard as an off-ball cutting point to reorganize the offense.

However, the style of play used throughout the season was restrained by the Grizzlies at the beginning, which made it very uncomfortable for everyone in the Magic to play on the court.

Even head coach Stan Van Gundy stood on the sidelines worried, hesitating, not knowing what was going on in his mind.

On the other hand, the offensive goal of the Grizzlies is very obvious. Whenever there is a chance, they will throw the ball to Pau Gasol to play against Lewis.

There are too many ways for Gasol to finish the offense while staying out of Howard's defensive zone as much as possible.

The triple advantages in height, weight, and skills allow Gasol to face Lewis with ease.

The relaxed look even made the commentator Charles Barkley couldn't help but sigh, "Paul's matchup with Rashad Lewis is simply crushing. It feels more like an unequal college league. It's hard to imagine. , This turned out to be a match at the finals level."

In addition, when Howard put more defensive focus on Pau Gasol, Kevin Martin on the outside immediately became the "Grim Reaper" who harvested the game.

Facing the defense of the veteran Bogans, Martin not only has the advantage of speed, but also his flexible offensive skills make Bogans miserable
After playing just over five minutes in the first quarter, Bogans received his second personal foul and had to sit off the court and watch Kevin Martin continue to perform wantonly on the court.

"I've never seen such a nasty player!"

"Defending this guy is more tiring than defending Kobe. It's really disgusting." Throwing the towel on the ground fiercely, Bogans only felt extremely aggrieved in the matchup with Kevin Martin.

The feeling of not daring to defend close to him, not being too far away, and most importantly, always guarding against Martin's initiative to create physical confrontation, that kind of feeling is really sour.

Until the end of the game, the depressed Bogans still didn't understand that there were not only physical monsters like Howard in the league, but also spiritual monsters like Kevin Martin.

The Magic played very awkwardly throughout the first half, and the offensive and defensive ends were unsatisfactory, which made the morale of the entire Magic team a bit sluggish.

Howard, the star star, suffered a lot in the matchup with Marc Gasol. He hit his back again and again, and was interfered by Marc Gasol's defense time and time again. Howard only felt that he was going crazy.

In the Eastern Conference finals, Howard was excited by the feeling of pressing the old "big shark" O'Neal on the ground and frantically rubbing.

As the greatest center player in active service, O'Neal's status in the league is like a touchstone for gradually stepping down from the altar.

All ambitious center players want to prove their success by slinging O'Neal. This kind of behavior has formed a pathological condition, and it is even more painful for O'Neal, who has a huge contract.

Under the circumstances that no one outside was optimistic about, Howard covered the sky with one hand in the paint and beat the "Shark" O'Neal to the ground, which undoubtedly greatly increased Howard's status in the league.

But before Howard was happy for too long, Marc Gasol taught Howard a good lesson in this game.

Obviously, Gasol is the rookie player who has just entered the league for only one year, but the result is like a senior sanctioning the fluttering Howard, limiting Howard's shooting percentage to less than 40%.

With the end of the halftime game, Howard, who only scored 5 points and 6 rebounds, quickly returned to the locker room from the player tunnel, as if he didn't want to stay in this ghost place for a second.

He talked too much before the game, but now Marc Gasol is defending him in pain. Howard only feels that the cheers from the away fans are full of ridicule for himself.

This kind of environment makes Howard feel that his days are like years. Since the start of the playoffs, Howard has developed the mentality of resisting the game for the first time.

"This is really a disappointing finals matchup. The Magic trailed the Grizzlies by 21 points at halftime."

"The advantages shown by Paul and Kevin are like a dimensionality reduction blow. The Magic have no way to deal with it. They can only stand still and watch the Grizzlies put the ball into their own basket again and again."

"Dwight's defensive ability is very strong, but Mike Miller was put on the starting lineup by Luke in this game. This made Dwight unable to play his strengths in many cases, and could only follow the rhythm of the Grizzlies to try to defend as much as possible."

"What is even more disappointing is that so far, we have not seen any changes in the Magic in the game. Stan Van Gundy has completely moved his coaching thinking to the finals."

"It's hard to imagine, this is how many days of pre-match preparations the Magic had before the start of the series." In the TNT broadcast room, Charles Barkley looked like he hated iron and steel.

Compared with Charles Barkley's dissatisfied face like a bitter woman, the Grizzlies led the Magic by as much as 20 points in the first half of the finals. This kind of scene made their partner Kenny Smith feel good.

"The strength shown by the Grizzlies is completely at the championship level. On the other hand, the Magic may need more time to improve themselves."

"Whether Stan will make adjustments in the next game is still unknown, but it is foreseeable that Kevin and Paul completely dominate the trend of this round of the series."

"No matter what kind of response the Magic makes on the defensive end, it will be difficult to make up for the gap in hard power."

"To put it bluntly, at this stage of the game, I think I can celebrate the arrival of the championship for the Grizzlies in advance."

Entering the second half, the Magic ushered in a change on the defensive end. With Howard as the core of the axis, they put up a set of zone defenses on the court.

Seeing the zone defense set up by the Magic, Luke couldn't help laughing while sitting off the court, and even Bill Lambir beside him began to gloat, "I read that right, that guy Stan actually set up a zone defense?"

"To defend the zone in front of you, it seems that Stan thinks the team loses slowly."

Although the Magic was targeted offensively in the first half, it can indeed make up for it through zone defense.

But the entire league is very clear that Luke is the most successful coach in breaking the zone defense in active service. To defend the zone defense in front of Luke is undoubtedly as ridiculous as playing a big knife in front of Guan Gong.

Whether it's the Timberwolves coached by Luke, or the San Antonio Spurs, or the Detroit Pistons that maximize zone defense.

Luke has proved to other teams more than once that the zone defense is a broken net in front of him, there is no self-casting net, and there is no fish-and-death net breaking, and some are just multi-directional cracks.

In the Western Conference semifinals, even the Spurs, who have always liked to defend the zone defense, did not dare to defend the zone defense in front of the Grizzlies for a long time. With the tacit teamwork of the entire team, the Spurs will fight the Grizzlies in six games.

At this time, the Magic came back to defend the zone defense in the second half. I am afraid that those who didn't know thought Stan Van Gundy was going to raise a white flag to signal the Grizzlies to surrender.

Relying on the excellent coping ability of the inside double Gasol, coupled with Kevin Martin's unique offensive methods, the Grizzlies played standard team basketball in the second half.

Compared with using the personal abilities of Kevin Martin and Pau Gasol in the first half to attack the stronghold, the Grizzlies simply bloomed more in the second half.

Stan Van Gundy, who once shot from outside the three-point line, turned black and stood on the sidelines with a depressed face, like a bad boy who came out of a cartoon.

"Dududu~"

As the whistle sounded for the end of the game, the Grizzlies finally beat the Magic by 32 points, almost winning the first game of the finals with a crushing advantage, and the outside fans were stunned.

It is not a hopeless thing to lose the first game in the series, but with the end of the G1 game, the calls for the Grizzlies to sweep the championship 4:0 have become louder and louder.

Even the Magic fans exude a sense of despair from the bottom of their hearts. They have less and less fantasies about the team's upset victory. It can be said that all fantasies were extinguished by the Grizzlies.

Throughout the game, Pau Gasol played a god-level performance. Facing the defensive loopholes in Lewis' defense, Gasol mercilessly blasted 35 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks.

And the shooting rate is as high as 76%. Even if Van Gundy used Turkoglu and Lewis to switch defenses in the second half, the defensive ability of these two people is the same in front of Pau Gasol. It can be called an indiscriminate dimensionality reduction blow. .

And Pau Gasol's outstanding personal ability also makes the finals MVP more suspenseful.

Even if Kevin Martin also scored 28 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in this game, but according to the current situation, the ownership of FMVP may cause controversy.

…………

In the next three games, Stan Van Gundy, who suffered from a fall and learned his wisdom, kept making adjustments, but the hard power between the Magic and the Grizzlies was really different.

In addition, the head star Howard was entangled by Gasol's defense, and he couldn't play at the level of the Eastern Conference Finals. He could only be reduced from the controversial No. [-] center in the league to a blue-collar.

Howard's tragic restriction fundamentally destroyed Stan Van Gundy's one-star shooting, even if Lewis had ushered in an explosion in G3, scoring 38 points in a single game.

But under the overall advantage of the grizzlies blooming everywhere, the magic had to accept being swept out 4:0 by the grizzlies, and watched the grizzlies win the championship trophy in the 07-08 season at their home court.

After winning the championship, the Grizzlies were like monkeys having fun, scurrying back and forth excitedly in the center of the court one by one.

Veteran Grant Hill, Chris Webber and others wept with joy, knelt on the edge of the court excitedly enjoying the carnival of this moment.

Especially the veteran Grant Hill, as a player who played for the Magic last season, Hill wore a Grizzlies jersey this season, and won his long-awaited championship trophy in Orlando.

This kind of feeling really made Grant Hill feel complicated, but when Luke handed over the championship trophy to Hill, Hill only felt that at this moment, he could live up to the name of "Jordan's successor"!
Compared with the excitement shown by the players, Luke, who has won the championship four times in his career, seems much calmer.

From the moment they learned that the opponent in the finals was the Orlando Magic, the Grizzlies had already booked the championship position in advance.

Counting this year, Luke has won the championship trophy four times in his career, but this season is still a bumper season for Luke.

The best coach, the championship, including the regular season MVP, the best defensive player, and even the best sixth man and many other hard-core honors.

Luke is launching an impact to a higher position. While improving his historical status along the way, he has also driven the development of many players and rewritten the fate of many players.

After winning the championship, Kevin Martin hugged Luke excitedly, letting his tears wet Luke's suit. Martin no longer tried to hide his emotions. Instead, he was like a helpless teenager, clung to Luke This figure.

Martin's gratitude to Luke cannot be expressed in a few words. Regular season MVP, All-Star selection, championship ring, these are things Kevin Martin never dared to think about before.

But with the appearance of Luke, these honors that should have run counter to Martin have come to Kevin Martin one by one.

If it is said that what parents gave Kevin Martin was life, then what Luke gave Kevin Martin was an opportunity, a chance to hold his destiny in his own hands.

It's just that Luke didn't expect that the FMVP was finally awarded to Pau Gasol, who had a burst performance in the finals.

In the four games, Pau Gasol averaged 31 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks per game, and played a super giant performance on the stage of the finals.

Originally, Kevin Martin had the opportunity to compete with Pau Gasol in the later period, but seeing Pau Gasol's look of expectation, Kevin Martin, who has already won the regular season MVP, chose to give up and give up the honor of FMVP Give it to Pau Gasol.

The generosity and selflessness shown by Kevin Martin surprised Luke. After all, not everyone can resist this temptation.

In this era when even if you lose in the finals, you have to work hard to score more points. Kevin Martin's approach is undoubtedly a bit silly to outsiders, but it has won the favor of head coach Luke and Pau Gasol.

Pau Gasol even ordered a luxury car for Kevin Martin at his own expense the next day, in order to thank Martin for his selflessness and generosity.

As for Luke, because of Kevin Martin's selflessness, he has become more full of appreciation for him.

The most important thing for Luke this year's offseason is to put Gerald Wallace, who has been beaten into the sidelines by himself, on the shelves, plus other high-quality chips, seeking to exchange for better stars.

You know, Gerald Wallace has just won the best defensive player this season, and has been selected to the best defensive team for many years. Gerald Wallace's transaction value is very huge.

As long as Luke is willing to come up with some other high-quality chips, it is not difficult to exchange for a star who can rank among the top ten in the league.

In this case, the selflessness shown by Kevin Martin will become very important. After all, the biggest problem with star grouping is status and ball possession.

Once the psychological problems of the players can be solved, the tactical play on the field is only second.

As a new-generation star who just won the regular season MVP this season, having a stronger helper joins the team, which means that Kevin Martin's status and possession of the ball will be affected.

The selflessness shown by Martin in the finals allowed Luke to operate more boldly.

Luke doesn't want to use Martin's gratitude to him to force him to give up something, but when Martin is willing to selflessly create opportunities for his teammates, the Grizzlies next season will definitely become an "aircraft carrier". Challenge the entire league!
The end of the finals means that the players can usher in a rest in the near future, but Luke's work is far from over.

Whether it's the upcoming draft at the end of June, or the contract expiration of up to five players this year, these are things that Luke needs to deal with quickly.

The draft, the trading market, the free market, the Grizzlies want to defend their title, and Luke can't get away from these tasks.

What's more, the Grizzlies have three first-round picks this season, which has a very high transaction value before this year's draft, and will definitely attract offers from many teams in the league.

If he wants to get a superstar who loses patience with his home team and is willing to offer a trade, Luke must not miss this stage.

Whether it's Gerald Wallace, this year's first-round pick, or other young players with potential, these are enough assets to attract other teams.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the Grizzlies are a naked beauty in front of the other 29 teams in the league. As the center of vision, the Grizzlies have always been the most watched team in the league.

Men with high self-control may be able to resist the temptation from beautiful women, but in today's league, no team can resist the temptation brought by the Grizzlies.

　Tomorrow's Qixi Festival, I will be forced to be dragged by my wife to accompany her, not to mention the expense, I guess I will be "exhausted physically and mentally" again, hey, what a miserable man.

　　There is a high probability that I will have time to codeword at night. It is hard to say what time will be updated tomorrow, but I should not ask for leave. After all, I must use codewords to prevaricate the fear of "paying public food"! ! ! !

　　A group of people who panic after the holidays!
　　Finally, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass.Please!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)